[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Joker_series_3796.jpg]][[caption-width-right:250:"The Joker has been released from Arkham Asylum."]]

''Joker'' is a 2008 one-shot graphic novel written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Lee Bermejo, focusing - [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin just like it says on the tin]] - on ComicBook/TheJoker, everyone's favourite MonsterClown. The story is done in a DarkerAndEdgier, FilmNoir style and is told by a naive young criminal named Jonny Frost who yearns to be a big man in Gotham. So when (for reasons nobody seems to know) ComicBook/TheJoker is released from Arkham Asylum and sets out to reclaim the city for himself, [[ViolationOfCommonSense Frost decides he wants in.]] [[HilarityEnsues Carnage Ensues]]! Along the way, they bump into the Riddler, Two-Face, the Penguin, Killer Croc, Comicbook/HarleyQuinn and [[Franchise/{{Batman}} the B-man himself]].

There's a lot of visual similarities between this version of the Joker and the one presented in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''; WordOfGod chalks this down to coincidence. The original title of the comic was even ''Joker: The Dark Knight'' (in the same vein as the partnership's previous graphic novel ''ComicBook/LexLuthorManOfSteel'', which is a fun companion to this work) but that had to be scrapped for obvious reasons.

If you wanted the page for the character, [[ComicBook/TheJoker that's here]].

----!!This graphic novel provides examples of:

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Joker suggesting that Killer Croc [[{{Squick}} give him a blowjob]] makes Croc and the other gangsters laugh.* ArtShift: Pages change from a gorgeous painted look (usually for the larger panels) to a lower-quality colouring style continuously.* AxCrazy: Imagine all the murderous insanity that powered the incarnations of The Joker that Creator/JackNicholson, Creator/HeathLedger and Creator/MarkHamill played. Now cram it all into one guy. He's that crazy.* BatmanGambit: The premise is that Joker, somehow, gets out of Arkham through the front gate. It's suggested but never stated that he was legally released. Later, he intimates to the Riddler that this was a sham.--> "The best place to hide, Edward, is ''in'' sanity!"* BigShutUp: Joker to Jonny, accompanied by a punch to the face, when he's thoroughly tired of Jonny.--> "Uh... God. You '''disgust''' me. You have '''no charm''' at all, just... '''obviousness'''. Dumb, dull, '''disappointing'''."* BodyguardBabes: In this story, Harley Quinn serves this role to the Joker. She's never seen speaking on panel, though presumably she can, Jonny just doesn't notice it.* BoomHeadshot: Jonny shoots one of Harvey's cops in the face and saves Joker's life. The perspective makes it look like the hole takes up half his face.* BreakTheHaughty: Jonny, a good way to see it is in the artwork where at the start he is always standing tall next to Joker, smoking a cigarette, pulling his collar, smugly smiling and all but short to flex at people when he enters the room. Near the end he looks scared, aimless and depressed.* BreakThemByTalking: Joker tries to deliver this lecture to [[spoiler:Batman, calling him out on trying to look like a monster but leaving his chiseled, heroic jaw bare for all to see. Batman turns it on its head and sends Joker into an UnstoppableRage]]. He did it [[spoiler: with just ''three'' words: [[ShutUpHannibal "To mock you."]]]]* CardboardPrison: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d, since no-one understands why the Joker is being released.* CassandraTruth: Harvey Dent sics one of his crooked cops on Jonny to warn him about the Joker, and then calls Jonny to his office to warn him some more: "you are involved with a sick man who will see you die... because for him, death is the punchline." Granted, the Joker's far from laughing by the time [[spoiler:he shoots Jonny in the face at point-ouch range]] but Dent was close enough about the [[DownerEnding death part]].* CurseCutShort: A minor example-->'''Joker:''' "I'd like your crew to run it for me still. They can be trusted, right? 'Cuz I get a whiff of skimmin', it's like my boogers are turned into sh--"-->'''Johnny Bang Bang:''' "--You ain't gonna smell boo from us."* DarkerAndEdgier: Oh yes. See {{Deconstruction}} below.* {{Deconstruction}}: WordOfGod states that the series was meant to make the Joker scary again, after all the anti-heroic and idealized traits he'd acquired by fans. Specifically, the book came out soon after ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' had come out. For everyone who treated Ledger's Joker as a DracoInLeatherPants, this book stands as a harsh rebuke, reminding everyone that despite how "fun" or "cool" the Joker's chaos is, he's still evil and you absolutely should not idolize him.* DeathSeeker: Jonny seems to be one as in one scene during the story's midpoint, he is standing on the roof of his apartment building, looking down with a sad expression on his face. [[spoiler: He finds it during the story's climax, jumping off a bridge after being shot in the face by the Joker.]]* DirtyCop: Two-Face has several in his pocket.* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Jonny, dying of a bullet to the face, concludes that the Joker represents a disease older than civilization with no cure and jumps off a bridge while Batman and the Joker have a punch-up in the background. Neither of them even notice.]]* TheDreaded: Joker. Word of his release travels through all of Gotham quickly, all the other villains fear him, and even the people that work for him are nervous if he isn't happy.* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: During the story's climax, Jonny, having just been shot in the face by the Joker, jumps off of a bridge after accepting that the Joker will always exist in some form.]]* EvenEvilHasStandards: As usual the supervillains, mob bosses, and {{Jerkass}} criminals are just as horrified by the Joker as the good guys are. Two-Face in particular is freaked out by the Joker and [[spoiler: convinces Batman to intervene on the gang war when the Joker claims that he'll "kill" one of his personalities]].* EvilVersusEvil: Most of the book is Joker vs. Two Face's criminal empire. Batman doesn't even step in [[spoiler:until Harvey Dent, terrified by Joker's threat to "kill" one of his personalities, makes his own Bat-Signal and pleads with Batman to intervene]].* EstablishingCharacterMoment: When the Joker goes to meet with a bar owner who formerly worked for him, they disappear for a few minutes... before the barman returns, ''stripped of all of his skin from the neck down''.** [[CrossesTheLineTwice He then slaps a dollar bill onto the man's blood-slicked ass.]] (It's a strip club!)* FlayingAlive: Joker pulls this on his lackey Monty, who had taken over the Joker's strip club* FlippingTheBird: First thing Joker does in the comicbook. To Gotham City.* FilmNoir: This is pretty much ''Film/GoodFellas'' starring the Joker. * FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: Jonny Frost, or "Jonny Jonny" to Joker.* FiveBadBand: The main people in the Joker's gang:** BigBad: Joker** TheDragon: Harley Quinn** TheBrute: Killer Croc** EvilGenius: Riddler, Penguin (in a business sense)** DarkChick: Jonny Frost* ForTheEvulz: The Joker, more gruesomely so than his canon counterpart.* GlasgowGrin: Joker has a particularly nasty-looking one, [[spoiler:and Jonny seems to get one when the Joker shoots him in the face]].* GroinAttack: Joker to Jonny.* HairTriggerTemper[=/=]MoodSwinger: Anything might make the Joker laugh, anything might make him [[GroinAttack kick you in the bollocks]] or knife you or grind the broken end of a glass bottle into your face.* HandshakeRefusal: Tommy Bang Bang puts out his hand to seal a deal with the Joker and the Joker looks like he's responding, but instead he grabs some scampi. Immediately after leaving the restaurant, he goes back inside and guns Tommy down. * ImAHumanitarian: Killer Croc's job includes "disposing of bodies". ''Om nom om''.** This is driven home when you see Croc eating what looks like just fried meat, but from Jonny's above view, you see what's on the plate is [[{{Squick}} a human heart]]. And floating in a nearby boiling pot... a skull.* JustForPun: The Joker owns a strip club called the "Grin and Bare It".* JusticeByOtherLegalMeans: Not used, but mentioned gleefully when [[spoiler:the Joker discovers that ''both'' of Harvey Dent's personalities are married, since, much like UsefulNotes/AlCapone with tax evasion, Dent could be put away for bigamy]].* KickTheDog: For Joker, it's [[spoiler:raping Shelly and murdering a completely random couple in their home]].* LaughingMad: Jonny ends up laughing deliriously at one point.* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Two-Face, while a dangerous criminal in his own right, is definitely portrayed as being significantly more sane and a much lesser evil than The Joker. * MeaningfulName: Possibly just a coincidence, but the name Jonny Frost is sort of similar to Joe Chill, the man who gunned down Batman's parents.* MoodSwinger: The comic goes to great length to show how dangerous it is to hang around a guy who goes from depressed to cheery to homicidal rage so fast. One moment Joker is drinking with a henchman who organized a party for him, the next he is skinning him alive.* TheNameIsBondJamesBond: Jonny introduces himself as "Jonny. Jonny Frost." when he firsts meets Joker. This backfires because it causes Joker to refer to him as "Jonny Jonny" for the entire story.* [[ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames ''Noir'' Graphic Novels Don't Use Codenames]]: Oswald Cobblepot is never addressed by his real name or his criminal identity, The Penguin. Joker only ever refers to him as "Abner" as a sign of disrespect.** GeniusBonus[=/=]MythologyGag: The Joker's fat henchman from ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' was named Abner as well. Maybe Joker just really likes the name "Abner."** Another possible interpretation; in this more 'realistic' take on the Batman mythos, the Penguin is basically a very short man. He's little, in other words. Or, to put it another way, [[ShoutOut he's]] [[ComicStrip/LilAbner Li'l [Little] Abner]].* OhCrap: The look on Joker's face when he finds Croc and his men hogtied, indicating that Batman has finally found him, speaks volumes.** The entire city of Gotham gets a collective one when the news spreads that Joker is being released from Arkham.* OnlySaneMan: Deconstructed with Jonny. Joker admits that he keeps him around because Jonny's more down to earth than he is, but the book goes out of its way to just how absurd it is for a sane man to be around these people. * PaintingTheMedium: Two-Face's SpeechBubble goes wavey to indicate which part of Harvey is talking.* ProperlyParanoid: Joker always thinks ''someone'' is watching him.--> '''Joker:''' "Look out the window, Jonny Jonny... tell me what you see"--> '''Jonny:''' "I see lights"--> '''Joker:''' "Lights? Heh heh heh HA HA HA HA! Those lights? They're pin pricks... in the dark. ''He's'' out there. You know that Jonny? Right on the other side of this window... watching me."** See ViewersAreGeniuses below. He has good reason.* RapeAsDrama: [[spoiler:The Joker rapes Shelly, Jonny's ex-wife.]]* RealityEnsues:** Two-Face's goons are suddenly chasing Joker's gang and open fire at them. Jonny goes off-road, crashing the car with him and Joker inside. Jonny even points out that he always thought he'd never go down without a fight, but it turns out that when someone bumps your car and starts shooting at you with a one second notice, you go down easy.** Joker's insanity, while in most continuity it makes him CrazyAwesome who clearly enjoys the mayhem, here it shows just how bad his psyche is and the downside he has, mostly depressions and anger issues, and how he is just as vulnerable as any men.* RewatchBonus: Notice anything strange about that gargoyle on page five?* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Basically the plot of the story is that the Joker is out to get back his criminal empire and get revenge on those who screwed him out of said empire while he was in Arkham.* SadClown: This version of the Joker is generally maniac, but has bouts of depression. If he's not laughing hysterically, he's crying in Harley's arms, or having an 'episode' (breakdown). * ScaryBlackMan: Killer Croc is reimagined as a scary black man with sharpened, shark-like teeth and a scaly skin condition. Basically what he's always been, in fact. It's just that in classic comics, his skin has become worse over the years.* ShoutOut: ** The unexplained briefcase Joker gets from the Riddler is a shout-out to ''Film/PulpFiction''.** Also featuring a "The End is Nigh" poster on page 30, which is something of a shout-out to former ''Batman'' writer Creator/AlanMoore and the Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}.* SlasherSmile: The Joker, of course.* SilentAntagonist: Harley Quinn doesn't get a single line despite doing some thoroughly awesome stuff.* {{Stripperific}}: InvertedTrope: Harley Quinn, who briefly acts as an actual stripper, gets on stage and ''puts on'' her Harley costume.* SmallNameBigEgo: Jonny starts to show signs of this, but gets [[HumblePie knocked back down]] swiftly and painfully both times. ** First, he tries to [[BullyingADragon muscle Killer Croc]] into leaving while Croc is eating. He gets [[NeckLift choked and hung from a hook]] until Croc is ready.** Later, he's late to a meeting with Joker. When he repeats a nonchalant answer that Croc gave to the same issue earlier, Joker [[GroinAttack splits]] [[UnusualEuphemism his uprights]].* ThematicSeries: The story is a companion piece to Azzarello and Bermejo's earlier ''Comicbook/LexLuthorManOfSteel'' (later rereleased in a collected edition under the title ''Luthor'', to reinforce the connection): ** Both are rather dark and deconstructive takes on the Batman and Superman universes with their respective arch-nemeses acting as {{Villain Protagonist}}s.** In both, the superheroes act as rarely-seen threats lurking ominously on the edges.** Both also explore the mindsets of each villain, and the worlds they inhabit. This consequently introduces an element of UnreliableNarrator, as neither villain is a wholly trustworthy source (Luthor's narrative, which initially seems quite utopian, is ultimately warped by his humanist pretensions and paranoid delusions, while the Joker's narrative is naturally drenched in an atmosphere of horrific nihilism and casual sadism from the outset).** Both initially appear to be deconstructing the superhero, only to turn it around and end up revealing exactly how monstrous the villain is and why we shouldn't trust them at all. As an example, both works climax in a confrontation between villain and hero in which the villain launches into a lengthy and deconstructive TheReasonYouSuckSpeech about how inadequate the hero is, only for the hero to respond with a brief ShutUpHannibal statement (two sentences for Superman, three ''words'' for Batman) that not only refutes everything the villain has tried to claim about the hero, but turns it ''back'' on the villain in such a way that drives them to a VillainousBreakdown. * TheUnreveal: It's never revealed how Joker got out of Arkham via legal means. Also, it's never exactly revealed what thing Riddler steals for Joker.* ViewersAreGeniuses: About five pages in, right when the Joker is strolling out of Arkham and looking back at its battlements. Take a look at the gargoyle in panel two. Then again in panel four. Miss something? [[spoiler:"[[ShoutOut Now]] ''there's'' a [[Film/TheDarkKnight Batman]]!"]]* VillainousBreakdown: The Joker begins to have one when he realizes that [[spoiler:Batman is finally putting a stop to his attempts at rebuilding his criminal empire.]]-->'''Joker''': That sonofabitch--Of course not-- he doesn't have a funny broken bone in his body. Oh, but he's got his hands on the rug, Jonny. Everything--He's let me...we have to get off the ''rug''.-->'''Jonny''': What rug?-->'''Joker''': Goddammit--can't you feel it ''slipping away''?!* WrongGenreSavvy: ** Harvey Dent seems to think he's living in ''Film/{{Casino}}'' or ''Film/GoodFellas'' or some other crime-[[FilmNoir Noir]] drama, with himself, naturally, at its head. The Joker cuts his arm open for it.** Jonny has similar delusions. He believes he's the Henry Hill to Joker's Jimmy Conway and realizes too late that he's living with a psychopath that will destroy him the second he feels like it.